Smell on clothes

[Chesure]

I've obviously stopped using the tumble dryer as much. Yesterday at 11 I did a load, hung it on the Lakeland dryer turned on with cover over the top. Turned it off at 8pm and took cover off to circulate air, leaving door open in room

This morning I've collected it up to finish it off in the tumble dryer. But it's got that slightly 'pissy' (sorry it's the best way I can think of to explain it) smell that comes from not drying properly. But it's dry within 24 hours so it doesn't seem long enough to get pissy smelling. This has happened quite a lot over the last 3 months. Resulting in me needing to rewash stuff.

I'm using the same fabric conditioner (I have to due to sensitive skin and DD has sensory issues with rough or scratchy clothes - hence finishing them off in the tumble dryer). I use Fairy gel for darks and colours Fairy powder for whites. This was a dark wash.

I haven't noticed a difference depending on the washing programme I use (1 hour or 2 hours). This dark wash was 90 mins at 40 degrees.

If I hang the stuff up in a warm conservatory it can still happen within 24 hours.

I've emptied the washing machine to check if the water is draining properly. No blockage. I'm spinning at 1200 so it's not that wet when it comes out.

What else can it be please? I literally cannot afford to tumble dry everything anymore. But I cannot send my DC to school in uniform that smells like piss!

Definitely give your washer a good cleaner - we had something similar once, and it was that our washer was getting old and a bit mouldy around the seals

Let us know how you got on OP!

I did actually dry my clothes outside in the breezy chilly air on Friday. No fusty smells!

Tomorrow is my next wash day post washing machine clean and it's a dark load so will report back.

I have results to report:

Same wash cycle
Same detergent
Same fabric conditioner
Same type of clothes

The things I've tried:

Running the washing machine clean cycle
Putting the clothes outside in the breeze/sunshine
Not overloading the airer and spreading a load out over the three airers I have

And the results are:

No new musty smell on clothes!

A couple still have residual must smell on them (within a wash where nothing else does) so I'm going to put Napisan in next week to try and kill off the smell.

Thanks everyone for your help!

It's generally a sign you need to "strip" the excess detergent out of them, like you would with cloth nappies - run them through a 60 degree wash with only detergent, no softener (you can use antibacterial laundry rinse stuff, or white vinegar)

You can then wash again with your normal stuff if you like. You need to do it perodically, not every time you wash them.

I'm hedging my bets it was the overloading because:

1. I use a borrowed stinky machine and my clothes smell fine
2. I don't have access to outdoor drying
3. My clothes smelt musty until I stopped overloading and the problem vanished overnight!

I've done some more experimenting. I left a load well spread out but in freezing cold temperatures so they wouldn't dry. 48 hours later they don't smell and are still wet. So the overloading is definitely more of a factor than not drying quickly enough.

I've also stopped using gel liquid because it's expensive and I have a sneaking suspicion it is more related to it than the powder.

Napisan killed the residual musty smell.

When I use Fairy, I always end up thinking the clothes have the bad, musty smell. When i use my other usual laundry liquid (Persil) it doesn't happen. I think Fairy itself smells a bit of damp mouldy clothes.

It is Fairy gel!

I was looking recently at the reviews on Ocado seeing which was best and remember reading these I wonder if this is the one you use

@merlotlover yes that's the one! Bloody expensive and clearly shite!

I was shocked to read the reviews! And yes not blinking cheap either

Just use the tumble dryer, it costs about a penny a minute and everything is clean fresh and out away in an hour. Economise on something else if you are struggling

We have a smart meter and a load costs between £2 and £3. I do finish them off for 20 minutes so they are fully dry and soft. But 10 loads a week is £30. I can't justify it when our bill is £200 already.

As soon as you turn the heated airer off, take off the cover, as it will keep in the slightest dampness and make the clothes smell. I've used a heated airer for over 20 years and it took me a while to realise this.
Never leave the cover on!

To add to others comments perhaps try washing clothes less often?

My DD washes so many if her clothes it us ridiculous!

Of course if it is sweaty or dirty but I am airing clothes more and seeing if I can stretch them for another wear.

Going back to my Granny' approach sadly!

Not popular on Mumsnet but a necessity, we are already over £200 per month like you

I found that it works with natural fabrics, cotton and wool but not with mixed or 100% synthetic. If it smells slightly sweaty, no airing will help.

I was dealing with this at the beginning of November when i refused to put the heating on and it was really wet outside/inside and cold. Clothes we're going off with that mildew smell faster than I could dry them. I bought a £40 plug in dehumidifier from Amazon and it's not a problem now, doesn't cost that much to run too. I'm not sure how much but it's on all the time at the moment trying to keep mould from forming as trapped inside moisture is the main culprit for that. They are dried in the box room on a maiden and the dehumidifier will suck about 150mls of water out of them as them dry and they dry faster too it's pretty impressive!

I did another experiment. I washed pretty dirty things then hung them in my freezing cold garage. They dried (took ages) but no smell!

So binned the liquid, ditched the cover, spread out the clothes and do my washing over several days (rather than all on 'wash day' leading to overcrowded driers).

Does anyone find that using a dehumidifier can sometimes take the nice smell out of washing? Mine seem to not smell as nice after I use it 🤔